Skin Deep
by TheDevilsVendetta
Summary: She knew she was being watched. But by who? and why? The answer to that ran much deeper than she ever thought possible and soon she will be thrust into a world of violence,pain and madness. But thats when the fun really begins. Set after TDK. Review.JXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note; Here is Skin Deep, my new Joker story. I have up to 40 chapters planned out so updates should be quick. Hope you like it, please review!**

**Skin Deep**

By Nara Rinn

**Prologue**

I am locked in an Asylum. Arkham Asylum. How I got here you ask? I, myself, am not too sure. The doctors told me it was because I was mentally unstable and paranoid and would need to take a few weeks out to recover. It had been said few weeks and they promised I could go soon. But regardless, I still feel eyes watching me... all the time... It is daunting. I feel like the hunted being coveted by the hunter. There is a man in the bed beside me, he's just been brought in, I can hear them talking about him.

"This is _him_?" A doctor nodded.

"I can't believe were expected to treat _The Joker_!"

"He's been heavily sedated, he can't harm us."

The second, uneasy doctor eyed the sleeping criminal wearily, untrusting of the unmoving dangerous creature, as if he would jump up and slaughter them at any moment.

"Just get the first aid kit, damnit!"

I look at the sleeping man, he is very dirty. His attire peculiar to say the least, followed up with a mop of greasy, dirty green-ish hair. Are they just going to leave me here with this man when they have finished? Oh I can't wait to go home...

The man, they called The Joker stirred.

"Oh my god, he's waking up!"

**Chapter 1; Watching Me**

_I always feel that somebody's watchin' me_

_And I have no privacy_

_I always feel that somebody's watchin' me_

_Tell me is it just a dream?_

Someone was following her. She had read about stalkers, but they belonged in a different, violent world. She had no idea who it could be, who would want to harm her. She was trying desperately hard not to panic, but lately her sleep had been filled with unbearable nightmares, and she had awakened each morning with a feeling of impending doom. _Perhaps it's all in my imagination, wouldn't be the first time..._ Evelyn Hoffman thought. _I'm working too hard. I need a vacation._

She turned to study herself in front of her bedroom mirror. She was looking at the image of a woman in her mid twenties, neatly dressed, with feminine features, a slim figure and intelligent, anxious crystal blue eyes. There was a quiet elegance about her, a subtle attractiveness. Her light brown hair fell softly to her shoulders. _I hate my looks, _Evelyn thought. _I'm too thin. I must start eating more. _She walked into the kitchen and began to fix breakfast, forcing her mind to forget about the frightening thing that was happening, and concentrating on preparing a fluffy omelette. She turned on the coffeemaker and put a slice of bread in the toaster.

Ten minutes later, everything was ready.

Evelyn placed the dishes on the table and sat down. She picked up the fork, stared at the food for a moment, then shook her head in despair. Fear had taken away her appetite. _This can't go on, _she thought angrily. _Whoever he is, I won't let him do this to me. I won't!_

Evelyn glanced at her watch. It was time to leave for work. She looked around the familiar apartment, as thought seeking some kind of reassurance from it. It was an attractively furnished third-floor apartment, with a living room, bedroom and den, bathroom, kitchen and a guest room. She had lived her in Gotham City for three years. Until two weeks ago, Evelyn had thought of it as a comfortable nest, a haven. Now it had turned into a fortress, a place where no one could get in to harm her. Evelyn walked to the front door and examined the lock. _I'll have to put a dead bolt in, _she thought. _Tomorrow._ She turned off the lights, checked to make sure the door was firmly locked behind her and took the elevator to the basement garage.

The garage was deserted. Her car was twenty feet from the elevator. She looked around carefully, then ran to the car, slid inside and locked the doors, her heart pounding. She headed downtown, under a sky the colour of malice, dark and foreboding. The weather report had said rain. _But it's not going to rain,_ Evelyn thought. _The sun is going to come out. I'll make a deal with you, God. If it doesn't rain, it means that everything is all right, that I've been imagining things._

Fifteen minutes later, Evelyn Hoffman was driving through downtown Gotham. She was employed at Wayne Enterprise, a successful, fast-growing young company with two hundred employees. As Evelyn turned the car onto Harrison Street, she had the uneasy feeling that _he _was behind her, following her. _But who? And why?_

She looked into her rear-view mirror. Everything seemed normal. Every instinct told her otherwise.

Ahead of Evelyn was the sprawling, modern-looking building that housed Wayne Enterprise. She turned into the parking lot, showed the guard her identification and pulling into her parking space. She felt safe here. As she got out of the car, it began to rain.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Wayne Enterprise was already humming with activity. There were eighty modular cubicles, occupied by computer whizzes, all young busily building marketing programs, advertisements, web sites and much more. The work floor was divided into several divisions; administration, sales, marketing and technical support. The atmosphere was casual. The employee's walked around in jeans, tank tops and sweaters. As Evelyn headed towards her desk, her supervisor, Dan Bates, approached her. " Morning Evelyn."

Dan Bates was in his early thirties, a burly, earnest man with a pleasant personality. In the beginning, he had tried to persuade Evelyn to go to bed with him, but he had finally given up, and they had become good friends. He handed Evelyn a copy of the latest _Gotham Daily _magazine.

"Seen this?"

Evelyn looked at the cover. It featured a picture of a distinguished-looking man in his fifties, with silver hair. The caption read "Judge Steven Hoffman vows to wipe out crime in Gotham"

"I've seen it"

"How does it feel to have a famous father?"

Evelyn smiled bitterly, "wonderful"

"He's a great man"

"I'll tell him you said that, were having lunch"

"Good. By the way... "Dan handed her small thin and brown folder.

"Today's reports, I need you to get them written up and edited"

"Will do"

"Thanks. Are we on for Saturday night?"

"Yes."

Dan Bates nodded towards the folder. "There's no hurry on this. They want it last month"

Evelyn smiled. "What else is new?"

She went to work. Evelyn was an expert in filling out reports, checking them and making sure the business transaction that was going through was flawless and the contract air tight. Half an hour later as Evelyn was finishing the first report, she sensed someone was watching her. She looked up. It was Ashley Anderson.

"Morning, honey."

His voiced grated on her nerves. Anderson was the company's computer genius. He was known around Wayne Enterprise as 'The Fixer'. Whenever a computer crashed, Anderson was sent for. He was in his early thirties, thin and bald with an unpleasant and arrogant attitude. He had an obsessive personality and the word around the company was he was fixated on Evelyn.

"Need any help?"

"No, thank you"

"Hey, what about us having a little dinner Saturday night?"

"Thank you, I'm busy"

"Going out with the Boss again?"

Evelyn turned to look at him, angrily. "Look, it's none of your-"

"I don't know what you see in him, anyway. He's a nerd. I can give you a better time." He winked. "You know what I mean?"

Evelyn tried to control her temper, "I have work to do, Ashley"

Anderson leaned close to her and whispered, "There's something you're going to learn about me, honey. I don't give up. Ever. "

She watched him walk away, and wondered: _Could he be the one?_

At 12:30, Evelyn put her computer in sleep mode and headed for Margherita Di Roma, where she was joining her father for lunch.

-----

She sat at a corner table in the crowed restaurant, watching her father come toward her. She had to admit that he was handsome. People were turning to stare at him as he walked to Evelyn's table. '_How does it feel to have a famous father?'_

Years earlier, Judge Steven Hoffman had managed to convict and sentence twenty-four mobsters to life imprisonment and often gave lectures at Gotham's universities to aspiring lawyers and Judges. It was no wonder he was so famous. Evelyn's mother was killed in a car accident when she was twelve and she had no one but her father.

"Sorry I'm later, Evelyn." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"That's all right I just got here."

He sat down. "Have you seen _Gotham Daily _Magazine?"

"Yes. Dan showed it to me"

He frowned, "Dan? Your boss?"

"He's not my boss. He's - He's one of the supervisors"

"It's never good to mix business with pleasure, Evelyn. You're seeing him socially, aren't you? That's a mistake"

"Father, we're just good-|

A waiter came to the table, "would you like to see the menu?"

Judge Hoffman turned to him and snapped, "Can't you see we're in the middle of a conversation? Go away until you're sent for."

"I- I'm sorry." The waiter turned and hurried off.

Evelyn cringed with embarrassment. She had forgotten how savage her fathers temper was. He had once punched an intern during a lecture for making an error in judgement. Evelyn remembered the screaming arguments between her mother and father when she was a little girl. They had terrified her. Her parents had always fought about the same thing, but try as she might, Evelyn could not remember what it was. She had blocked it from her mind.

Her father went on, as though there had been no interruption. "Where were we? Oh, yes. Going out with Dan Bates is a mistake. A big mistake. "

And his words brought back another terrible memory.

She could hear her father's voice saying, "Going out with Jim Cleary is a mistake. A big mistake... "

Evelyn had just turned eighteen and was living in her hometown in Pennsylvania. Jim Cleary was the most popular boy in their High School. He was on the football team, was handsome and amusing and had a killer smile. It seemed to Evelyn that every girl in school wanted to sleep with him. _And most of them probably have, _she had thought, wryly. When Jim Cleary started asking Evelyn out, she was determined not to go to bed with him. She was sure he was interested in her only for sex, but as time went on, she changed her mind.

She liked being with him, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy her company.

That winter, the senior class went for a weekend skiing trip in the mountains. Jim Cleary loved to ski.

"We'll have a great time," he assured Evelyn.

"I'm not going."

He looked at her in astonishment. "Why?"

"I hate the cold weather. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb."

"But it will be fun to-"

"I'm not going."

And he had stayed in Pennsylvania to be with her.

They shared the same interests and had the same ideals, and they always had a wonderful time together. When Jim Cleary said to Evelyn, "Someone asked me this morning if you're my girlfriend. What shall I tell him?" Evelyn had smiled ad said, "Tell him yes"

Judge Hoffman was worried. "Your seeing too much of that Cleary boy."

"Father! He's very decent and I love him"

"How can you love him? He's a goddamned _football _player. I'm not going to let you marry a football player. He's not good enough for you, Evelyn."

He said that about every boy she had gone out with. Her father kept making disparaging remarks about Jim Cleary, but the explosion occurred on the night of the high school graduation. Jim Cleary was taking Evelyn to an evening graduation party. When he came to pick her up, she was sobbing.

"What's the matter? What's happened?"

"My- my fathers told me he's taking me away to London. He's registered me in - in a college there."

Jim Cleary looked at her, stunned. "He's doing that because of us, isn't he?"

Evelyn nodded, miserable.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"No, Evelyn! For Gods sake, don't let him do this to us. Listen to me, I want to marry you. My uncle offered me a really good job in Chicago with his advertising agency. We'll run away. Meet me tomorrow morning at all the railroad station. There's a train leaving for Chicago at seven a.m. Will you come with me?"

She looked at him for a long moment and said softly, "yes."

Thinking about it later, Evelyn could not remember what the graduation party was like. She and Jim had spent the entire evening excitedly discussing their plans.

"Why don't we fly to Chicago?" Evelyn asked.

"Because we would have to give our names to the airline. If we go by train, nobody will know where we've gone."

As they were leaving the party, Jim Cleary asked softly "Would you like to stop off at my place? My folks are out of town for the weekend"

Evelyn hesitated, torn. "Jim... we've waited this long. A few more days won't matter"

"Your right." He grinned. "I may be the only on this continent marrying a virgin."

When Jim Cleary brought Evelyn home from the party, Judge Starling was waiting, in a rage. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"I'm sorry, sir. The party -"

"Don't give me any of your Goddamn excuses, Cleary. Who the hell do you think you're fooling?"

"I'm not -"

"From now on, you keep your Goddamn hands off my daughter, do you understand?"

"Father -"

"You keep out of this," He was screaming now. "Cleary, I want you to get the hell out of here and stay out."

"Sir, your daughter and I -"

"Jim -"

"Get up to your room!"

"Sir -"

"If I ever see you around here again. I'll break every bone in your body. "

Evelyn had never seen him so furious. It had ended with everyone yelling. When it was over, Jim was gone and Evelyn was in tears.

_I'm not going to let my father ruin my life. _She said on her bed for a long time. _Jim is my future. I want to be with him. I don't belong here anymore. _She rose and began to pack an overnight bag. Thirty minutes later, Evelyn slipped out the back door and started towards Jim Cleary's home, a dozen blocks away. _I'll stay with him tonight and we'll take the morning train to Chicago. _But as she got nearer his house, Evelyn thought, no. _This is wrong. I don't want to spoil everything. I'll meet him at the station._

And she turned and headed back home.

Evelyn was up the rest of that night thinking about her life with Jim and how wonderful it was going to be. At 5:30 am, she picked up her suitcase and moved silently past the closed door of her father's bedroom. She crept out of the house and took a buss to the railroad station. When she reached the station, Jim had not arrived. She was early. The train was not due for another hour. Evelyn sat on the bench eagerly waiting. She thought about her father awakening and finding her gone. He would be furious.

_But I can't let him live my life. One day he'll really to know Jim and he'll see how luck I am. _6:30 ... 6:40 ... 6:45 ... 6:50 ... There was still no sign of Jim.

Evelyn was beginning to panic. What could have happened? She decided to telephone him. There was no answer. 6:55. _He'll be here any moment._

She heard the train whistle in the distance, and she looked at her watch. 6:59.

The train was pulling into the station. She rose to her and looked franticly around. _Something terrible has happened to him. He's had an accident. He's in the hospital. _A few minutes later, Evelyn stood there watching the train to Chicago pull out of the station, taking all her dreams with it. She waited another half an hour and tried to telephone Jim again. When there was still no answer, she slowly headed home, desolate.

At noon, Evelyn and her father were on a plane to London.

She had attended a college in London for two years, and when Ashley decided she wanted to be involved in working with computers and business, she applied for the prestigious MEI Wang Scholarship for Women in Engineering and Modern Technology at the University Of Gotham City. She had been accepted and three years later, she was recruited by Wayne Enterprise.

In the beginning, Evelyn had written half a dozen letters to Jim Cleary but she had torn them all up. His actions and his silence told her all too clearly how he felt about her.

Her father's voice jarred Evelyn back to the present.

"Your a million miles away. What are you thinking about?"

Evelyn studied her father across the table. "Nothing"

Judge Hoffman signalled the waiter, smiled at him genially and said, "Were ready to look at the menus now."

----

It was only when Evelyn was on her way back to the office that she remembered she had forgotten to congratulate her father on his cover of _Gotham Daily _Magazine.

When Evelyn walked up to her desk, Ashley Anderson was waiting for her.

"I heard you had lunch with your father."

_He's an eavesdropping little creep. He makes it his business to know everything that's going on here. _"Yes I did"

"That can't have been much fun" He lowered his voice.

"Why don't you ever have lunch with me?"

"Ashley... I've told you before. I'm not interested."

He grinned. "You will be. Just wait."

There was something eerie about him. Something scary.

She wondered again whether he could be the one who... She shook her head. _No. _She had to forget about it, move on.

---

On her way home, Evelyn stopped and parked her car in front of a familiar book store she drove past every day but never bothered going into. Before she went in, she studied the reflection in the storefront mirror to see if there was anyone behind her whom she recognized. No one. She went inside the store.

A young male clerk walked up to her. "May I help you?"

"Yes. I - Do you have a book on stalkers?"

He was looking at her strangely. "Stalkers_?_"

Evelyn felt like an idiot. She said quickly, "yes! I also want a book on - err - gardening and - and animals of Africa."

"Stalkers and gardening and animals of Africa?"

"That's right." She said firmly.

_Who knows? Maybe someday I'll have a garden and I'll take a trip to Africa._

When Evelyn returned to the car, it began to rain again. As she drove, the rain beat against the windshield, fracturing space and turning the streets ahead into pointillist paintings. She turned on the windshield wipers. They began to sweep across the window, hissing, " He's gonna get you... gonna get you... gonna get" Hastily, Evelyn turned them off. _No. _She thought. _They're saying... No one's there, no ones there, no ones there._

She turned the windshield wipers on again. 'He's gonna get you... gonna get you...gonna get you.'

Evelyn parked her car in the garage and pressed the button for the elevator. Two minutes later, she was heading for her apartment. She reached the front door, put the key in the lock, opened the door and froze.

Every light in the apartment had been turned on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two; Still Of The Night**

_Hanging in the sun_

_Waiting for the rain_

_Saw a field catch on fire_

_I caught myself just watching_

Evelyn put on her heels, before hurrying over to the mirror in her room. With a quick glance to her watch, _he'll be here any minute now _she thought. At least she was all ready for a change. It was Saturday night and almost time for the date with Dan, her supervisor and good friend. Evelyn was feeling very nonchalant about the whole thing, Dan made her feel comfortable and she assumed it would be good to get out of the apartment for a couple of hours. But still, Evelyn could help but be passive about it. A sudden knock at the door made her eyes snap away from the pencil skirt she was smoothing out to the door.

"Coming!" she called.

A few moments later, after checking her appearance and deeming it acceptable, she was at door opening it and greeting Dan with a polite smile.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure, just let me lock up"

Evelyn turned off the lights inside her apartment and set outside into the dimly lit hallway.

Making sure the door was locked securely, she turned and nodded.

"Alright, lets go" Dan said

---

Despite the terribly high crime rate of Gotham City, at night the city seemed to light up all the sky. Vibrant, illumining the sky and highlighting the stars with white and blue lights. Of course the main attraction, the Batman flood light. With each passing day it seemed to be on more and more often, calling for Gotham's Dark Knight's help. Also a great tourist attraction, to those naive of it's meaning.

Dan and Evelyn ventured downtown Gotham to a bar named Pulse. It was small with mahogany walls and tiled flooring, along with a bar and seats. Hanging on the right hand side wall was a television set turned up loud, all the people in the bar had turned their heads to look at the screen which was playing the news. _Is GCN the only station Gotham watches? _Evelyn thought.

"Hey, turn it up!" Someone called.

"The serial murderer known only as The Joker rain of madness and terror continues. His latest victim was the convicted mobster, Rupert Thorne, who had been sentence to life in jail for illegal drug importing and the attempted murder of ex-commissioner Pauling, another victim of The Jokers. Rupert Thorne was serving his life sentence at Blackgate Penitentiary where he was found at 1:00 pm this afternoon dead in his cell suffering from multiply knife wounds. A Joker card was left at the scene of the crime. The people are asking when will this mad man been brought to justice?-"

"Looks like The Joker did the Batman a favour for once"

"Yes, scum like Thorne always get what they deserve"

Evelyn shuddered - She never liked watching the news, it was always so grim - She heard Dan ask her what she wanted to drink, feeling her mouth give a reply, Evelyn's eyes watched him walk away to the bar. But her mind was far away, focused on a dark memory.

---

Arkham Asylum. Some months ago...

"Oh my god, he's waking up!"

"Quick, restrain him and tie him down" a doctor yelled.

They scattered, one rushing to fill a syringe with the required medication to keep him at least calm and the other to gather the restraints.

Within moments, the clown was tightly strapped to the gurney and groaning loudly as his eyes flickered open.

Evelyn's eyes widened in shock as he slowly glanced around, _he's awake...!_

"Doctor, these wounds don't look too serious, he's under a lot of anaesthetic so he shouldn't feel a thing"

"Then lets do this and get out of here" the Doctor replied nervously.

She turned her head as they stitched up The Joker who twitched and groaned with apparent discomfort. The sound of the needle piercing flesh and the thin hiss of the thread slipping in and out bringing the loose skin back into place brought waves of nausea to Evelyn but she dared not speak or move, being so close to being released the young woman dared not risk it.

It didn't take long for the Doctors to finish stitching up the mans face, as soon as they had applied anti-septic, they scurried away out of the room. Leaving only Evelyn who was still awaiting her Doctor to come and give her a medical examination and to see how she was doing and the man in the bed close by.

A deep cough escaped his lips causing Evelyn to turn her head.

Her blue eyes widened in shock when she realised he was looking right at her, his face dirty and make-up badly smudged but the grin on his face unmistakable,

"Hi..."

The heart beating within her chest seemed to speed up rapidly, _what do I do? _She thought.

"Err… Hi. "She nervously replied

---

"Hey, Evelyn! Anyone home?" a hand waved in front of her face trying to gather her attention.

She shook her head and blinked, eyes glancing around it came back to her where she was. "Oh sorry Dan, I was a million miles away."

Dan smiled slightly and handed her a drink, she took a long thirsty gulp, and "I needed that." she said.

Many hours and drinks later, they had hailed down a cab and were on their way to Evelyn's apartment, "thanks for tonight Dan" Evelyn said

"No problem, any chance I could get out with you tonight?"

She smirked at him and shook her head, "not a chance."

"Didn't think so. But can't blame a guy for trying."

Ten minutes later, the cab pulled up outside a block of apartments,

"Want me to walk you inside?" Dan suggested, a smirk playing on his lips

"I'm a big girl; I think I can find my own way. Goodnight"

She stepped out of the cab and waved goodbye to her friend as the cab took off into the night, a small smile on her face.

A strong breeze swept by causing Evelyn to shudder and pull her tighter around her body. Turning around Evelyn stepped into the apartments and headed for the elevator.

The elevator started going upwards, creaking and jutting as it went along, creaking eerily getting louder and louder floor by floor. Finally it stopped outside on the floor she wanted, Evelyn got out and stopped.

Her eyes fell on her apartment door... Only by an inch but regardless, the door was open!

She ran to the door and rushed it open, eyes wide with horror.

But inside the apartment everything was the same. _Someone's been in here. I can feel it. All the lights are on and I locked the door _she thought.

"Is someone there?" Evelyn called

No answer.

"I'm calling the police."

Still nothing.

But then a small thud came from across the room. _Someone's in the bathroom! _She thought.

Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear it and feel the violent thuds against her chest. Looking around for a weapon, she spotted none. So instead, she reached down slowly and as quietly as she could and took of one of her shoes.

Walking forward, she began towards the bathroom.

_Oh please just let it be my imagination...Please, please..._she mentally begged.

She reached out a slender hand and grasped the door handle, _one... two... THREE! _She took a deep breath.

Thrusting the door open, she held up the shoe and lurched forward.

But no attacker came at her, she blinked repeatedly.

_There really isn't anything in here _she thought.

Letting out a sigh of relief, something caught her eye. It was in the sink.

Stepping closer she looked into the sink and saw a small object.

Reaching for it, Evelyn picked it up and examined it. Red lipstick. _This isn't mine.._She thought.

Frowning, she looked up at the mirror.

_Oh my god..._

A loud terrified scream escaped her lips; she stepped away from the mirror but slipped on the tiled floor.

Evelyn fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

Lifting her head up, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, eyes like saucers. Her gasp for breath, her chest rising and falling heavily.

On the mirror edged in crimson lipstick... _BOO!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Chapter 4 will be out in a few days, review!**

**Chapter Three; Hero**

_He's born in the fire,_

_Enemy of light._

_With glory and sadness,_

_He's riding the sky._

_A presence creeping' in the air,_

_on times of spirit of darkness._

The sound of the employee's busying them selves with daily routine work filled the air, the smell of coffee and computor hard-drives lingering all around. Workers bustled around hurrying to get all the nessicary tasks done before they could leave for the day. The evening sun had already begun to set, illuminating Gotham City, colouring in the dul greys and blacks with shades of yellow, red and gold. Evelyn took note of all these things as she picked up the papers - Her completed work for the day - and walked over to Shane Miller who was still deep in thought, pouring into his work, a steaming fresh cup of coffee in his left hand. " Here you go, I finished everything you me to, _boss. _Now can I go home? I'm already an hour over worked" she teased

He waved at hand at her absentmindedly, " sure sure, just drop them anywhere"

Placing the work down beside his own, she said a brief goodbye and turned back to her desk. _Another end to another day..._she thought mildly.

Suddenly the sound of a door opening and closing broke the usual tone of the room, followed by camera's flashing away brillantly and the shouts of reporters. " Mr. Wayne, over here!"

" Sir, do you have any comment?"

" A moment of your time! Mr Wayne?"

" Mr. Wayne?"

" Mr. Wayne?"

Evelyn watched as the man, her boss, Bruce Wayne stopped and sigh in frustration holding his hands up in a seeming surrender. " Look people, how many times? No comment."

The reports, unphased, almost as if they hadn't heard a word he had said, continued bombarding him for a comment or two about whatever.

Turning away, Evelyn picked up her coat and bag and left the room.

Bruce Wayne, boy billionair, playboy and Gothams finest bachelor. Charming, handsome and rich. Very rich. The man had never appealed to Evelyn, he seemed arrogant and too rich for his own good. Always throwing parties, fundraisers and jetting off from one exotic place to another. Almost like her father. She grimaced and continued out of Wayne Enterprise.

The sky was growing darker now, fading from rich reds and oranges to darker shades of blue and grey. A cold wind swept by, whistling eerily, the smell of coming rain was in the air. _It's going to rain soon _Evelyn thought.

Moments later, she climbed into her car and started the engine. Or tried to, would be the better term. The car gave an abrupt jolt back and stopped, the engine sluttering and coughing, resembling that of a sick animal. _Please no! Not today, start damnit. Start. _she thought.

Turning the key again, the car coughed and spluttered but burst into life a few seconds later. _Thank you. Thank you!_

Pulling the car out of the car park, Evelyn drove away from Wayne Enterprise as the rain began to fall.

---

The radio played a classical rock song, typical but with a catchy chorus. Evelyn sang along quietly, keeping her eyes firmly on the road ahead, the spluttering of the engine was barely audible over the noise of the rain and radio. But it didn't go unnoticed for long.

As the car turned a corner, only ten minutes away from home, it began to slow. Evelyn frowned. _It's... slowing? _

The car slowed and slowed under it was practicly crawling along the dark road at a pathetic pace, _this is not happening! _she thought.

But it was and moments later, the car completly stopped just beside the side-walk.

" Fuck!" she shouted slamming her fist againest the steering wheel.

_Perfect. Simply fucking perfect _she mentally yelled.

Pulling the keys out of the fried engine, Evelyn grabbed her bag and opened it. _No cellphone to call for help... Of course. Thats just predictable._

With an annoyed sigh, she closed her bag and stepped out of the car.

She glared at it, cursing the day she bought the stupid piece of tin. Immaturly Evelyn drew back her foot and kicked the car, only resulting in a throbbing pain in the foot. Her eyes bore into the car, it felt like the hunk of junk was laughing at her, mocking her. " Just you wait... This time tomorrow you'll be scrap!" she hissed.

Turning away, Evelyn began walking down the dark street. At this rate it would take twenty minutes to get home, whereas in the 'demon car' it would have only took another ten.

The rain poured down, drenching her and making her clothes cling to her flesh. The heels of Evelyn's shoes clicked againest the ground, rain dripped down her face flattening her once bouncy clean hair againest her forehead. _What did I do to deserve this punishment? _she thought.

---

_I'm almost home; I can have a shower!_Evelyn thought to herself, cheering inside her head. She was tired after the long day and nothing seemed more perfect than the prospect of red hot water relaxing her muscles.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here, then?" A sickening voice rang through the street, chilling Evelyn's blood.

_Oh no..._

Abruptly, five tall men clad only in black stepped out from the shadows, surounding her.

A deep chuckle echoed around her, "Heh. We've been watching you, miss. You've got a lovely arse," the voice slurred, obviously drunk; scaring Evelyn even more.

"Yeah, wouldn't mind having a feel, would you?" Another voice joined in, equally as slurred, this time directed at another guffawing man.

_Oh shit, now I'm really stuck,_she panicked, trying to hide her fear as best as she could.

The men seemed to surround her entirely, and as she looked around frantically trying to find an escape, they only laughed at her. Her eyes zeroed in on the only patch of light they could find -the moonlight reflecting innocently off the damp pavement, without warning, she ran.

"Help! Someone help me!" She screamed, her voice cracking in fear, her legs were moving as fast as she could make them, but it didn't feel fast enough.

She heard them give chase, their mismatched footfalls echoing un-gracefully, "come on, lads! Don't let her get away!"

Evelyn took another laboured breath and forced her legs to move faster, looking up into the pitch black sky as if she were praying for help; yet it remained cloudless and merciless, the full moon glinting off faraway windows, housing people she knew wouldn't help. She ran turned corners she didn't know existed, ran past landmarks she had never seen before -she didn't know where she was going, but the fate she held if she slowed down wasn't worth thinking about.

Again, she screamed for help, and again, none came. The heels of her expensive shoes clicked at a pace that wasn't letting up, faster and faster against the ground. Her bag billowed in the wind behind her, her grip on the strap tightening in fear; she could feel her energy going fast.

Spits of rain hit the ground, blurring Evelyn's vision as she inwardly cursed. Wiping her eyes quickly, she wondered if it would be safe to look back, she could still hear their loud steps close behind her, "help!" she tried once more.

"Whoa man! Get back, you wanker, don't come near me!" A gruff voice sounded out behind Evelyn as she attempted to push herself to run faster yet again.

"It's him! Run!" This time the slurred voice seemed a little clearer, it's pitch rising it what was clearly fear. To confirm her half-coherent thoughts, deep screams and yells broke out behind Evelyn, her face -previously contorted in fear she unsuccessfully tried to hide- now frowned as she ran, _What's happening? Have they stop chasing me? Oh God, I hope so. _

"Lets get out of here!"

The footsteps behind Evelyn grew fainter and fainter as she dared to slow her pace, panting relentlessly; her body ached for her to stop and catch the breath she so dearly needed, but she refused to stop running.

Suddenly, a rough hand grabbed her arm, fingers winding around her biceps tightly, "No! Get off me!" She screamed.

She began to thrash about in an attempt to loosen the tight hold on her arm, punching and kicking aimlessly, hitting anything her fists fell upon to get away, "let me GO!"

"Calm down! It's alright, stop it." A raspy voice commanded loudly, lessening her blows but not entirely, "I'm not going to hurt you." The voice sounded again.

"Yeah fucking right! Get off!" She yelled, not letting up on her mindless thrashing.

Evelyn looked up in fear as another hand wound around her free arm, successfully stopping any hits she might've landed. Just then, as her eyes locked with trusting, deep brown ones, her body fell limp in relief, her legs buckling as the exhaustion caught up with her, "Batman..."

" Are you okay?" he asked

Evelyn chuckled without humour, " poor choice of words"

The Batmans eyes flashed with an emotion she couldn't place, she frowned. _Odd... The guys dressed as a fucking Bat and your saying the look in his eyes is odd?!_

She pulled out of his grasp and said " I need to go home, it's not far from here only another ten minutes walk"

" I'll give you a ride" he rasped

Evelyn raised an eyebrow curiously, " you have a car?"

Suddenly the sound of an engine roared into life, a black metallica beast raced out from the shadows of a pitch black ominious alleyway, turning sharply screeching as the heavy tires scraped againest the road, bringing the creature face to face with them a few yards away. It sped towards them howling like a bengal tiger.

The metalic thing stopped beside them moments later, hushed to a dull purr. Evelyn stared at the Bat-mobile wide eyed, her mouth shaped the word "wow" but no sound fell from her lips.

" Get in" he ordered

" Oh, right..."

_Evelyn , get a grip. First your being stalked and now your taking rides from a man dressed like a Bat! I'm sure this isn't normal..._she thought.

Before getting into the car.

---

Five minutes later, the Bat-mobile pulled up outside Evelyn Hoffman's apartment, " thanks Batman for saving me and for the ride" she said.

" No problem"

She unbuckled the seatbelt and opened the door but paused,turning to him, " good guys like you shouldn't have bad days"

before getting out of the car and closing the door behind her.

She looked up to the floor her apartment was on, eyeing the one which was the window to her room. The lights were on.

_Why am I not surprised?_

But the stab of fear was not missed as it twisted and turned with her stomach.


End file.
